At Home With...

Grandma's Wauwatosa house now feels like home

When Tom and Amy Courtright (center) moved in with their daughters, Allison (from left), Emily, Claire, and Katherine, they weren’t sure if the home, which then only had three bedrooms, would be big enough for all of them.

A built-in cabinet if filled with decorations in the living room.

The dining room is just off the entryway.

The Courtrights removed a wall that separated the dining room from the kitchenette, opening up the floor plan.

The original kitchen was gutted. The new one features maple cabinets that were built on site, granite countertops and a granite-topped island that has a built-in microwave drawer and beverage refrigerator.

The first floor laundry room includes cabinets for the kids.

The Courtrights' master bedroom is on the first floor, just off the living room.

The hallway between the master bedroom and living room is decorated with a mirror and cabinet.

To accommodate the slope of the roof, a 5-foot-door was installed for this storage area. The children in the family were so excited about the area though, that the Courtrights turned it into a play area.

The remodeled upper level includes a little area with window light.

The original tile is still in place in one of the three upstairs bathrooms.

The Courtrights' 1950s Wauwatosa home has over 5,000 square feet after the remodeling.

When Tom and Amy Courtright (center) moved in with their daughters, Allison (from left), Emily, Claire, and Katherine, they weren’t sure if the home, which then only had three bedrooms, would be big enough for all of them.

Another plus was that they knew the two-story, French Colonial-style home in Wauwatosa, built around 1952 or '53, was structurally sound.

But there were some negatives. So many negatives, in fact, that at first the couple didn't think the home would work for them.

"My initial reaction was, 'No way!' " Amy said. "When we'd come here to visit, the pocket doors were always closed, and it gave the home a very choppy, closed-off feeling. It was also claustrophobic because of all the walls and partitions."

The fact that it had just three bedrooms for a six-person family didn't help, either.

But because they were moving here from Cincinnati for a new job for Tom, whose expertise is financial analysis valuation, they needed to find a home quickly. They moved in March 2012, thinking it might just be on a temporary basis.

To make the house work for their family, and also to make it easier to sell should they decide to leave, they began making changes to the second floor.

They added a dormer to the space, which originally had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large unfinished area. They transformed the unfinished space into two additional bedrooms, a family room, a full bathroom, a storage area and two play rooms.

Work was finished in June, resulting in a striking space with bedrooms for Allison, 10; Emily, 8; Claire, 7; and Katherine, who's almost 3.

By the time the work was done, the couple decided they'd stay and make the home their own.

A major kitchen renovation

"I had never looked at the whole house," Amy said. "It was always so cut up that it felt small. We looked at it with an eye as to what we could do."

They decided to give the first floor a more open look while keeping as much of its character as possible. They started work in August and finished by October.

That project included gutting the kitchen and removing a three-quarter wall that separated it from a kitchenette. They also removed a full wall that divided the kitchenette from the dining room and gutted a large laundry room, adding glazed porcelain tile.

They worked with Stephanie Quinn of Modern Edge Design in Milwaukee, adding maple cabinets that were built on site, granite countertops and a granite-topped island with a built-in microwave drawer and beverage refrigerator.

Other amenities included oil-rubbed kitchen fixtures and cabinet hardware, a five-burner induction cooktop and a honed and beveled marble backsplash. Hand-scraped maple flooring was added to the rooms that were updated, as well as to the foyer and a room off the foyer.

Other rooms in their home, which is more than 5,000 square feet after the work, needed only decorative touches such as paint, carpeting and lighting.

Their large living room, which has a wood-burning fireplace, thick crown molding, built-in cabinets and a large bay window with mullioned glass, got the least attention, Amy said. There, they only painted the walls.

"We had painted the woodwork white in most of the rest of the house, but we left it natural in here," she said. "It's not a formal room. This is the only room where we have a TV, and it's where we spend time with the family."

Q.You did a lot here in just a year. Why did you work so fast?

Amy: After we moved in and we were still working on the second floor, the Wauwatosa Historical Society asked to feature our home on their tour. At that point, we knew we would do the first floor. I thought, "What better motivation to get the lower level done!" By the time the tour was held in October, the lower level was 80% done.

Tom: I thought she was crazy to be on a tour in the middle of a renovation.

Q. Was this area a factor when you decided to stay here?

Tom: Yes. I grew up in Wauwatosa, so this feels very much like home. It's a wonderful community; the people are very nice. I also like this house, as it's on a cul-de-sac, so we don't have to worry about traffic. It's close to elementary schools and parks, and we can walk into Wauwatosa village.

Q.What colors did you use when you painted?

Amy: The kitchen walls are chocolate and the cabinets are cream with a dark brown glaze. On the lower level, we added earth tones. I'm comfortable using deep colors. Upstairs, we used brighter tones in the girls' rooms.

Q.Did you retain any of your grandma's furnishings?

Amy: Just a few small things. Our furniture is from our last home, but we also purchased some pieces when we moved here.

Q.What's going on with the fairly empty room off the foyer?

Tom: That will be a den or library where I can work or just have quiet time.

Q.What's behind the little door on the upper level?

Amy: That area was slated for storage. Because of the slope of the roof, we had to put in a 5-foot door. The kids got so excited about the little door that we turned it into a play area.

Q.Who picked the colors in Allison's room?

Amy: She did. She wanted bright pink walls, black curtains and a black bedspread. The built-in bookcase on each side of the windows originally had a pecan stain on it. We had it painted white. Her room is the biggest, and she also has her own bathroom. We painted that room a lighter pink. The tile and all the fixtures were in mint condition, so we didn't change them. The pink walls go well with the pale yellow tiles.

Q.Can you describe your bedroom?

Amy: It's on the first floor. All we did was add a ceiling fan and painted the walls. It has a small hallway that leads to his-and-her bathrooms. One is pink with a tub, and the other is blue and has a shower. That room also has three closets.

Q.You seem to have a lot of storage here.

Amy: We had 14 to 18 closets; now we have 14. Some were removed to make the space more open or to better configure it.

Q.You have a good amount of bathrooms.

Amy: Yes, five full bathrooms and a half-bath. With four girls, they each need their own sink.

Q.Any work yet to do?

Tom: Number one is the basement. We want to make a large family room and perhaps a guest bedroom down there. Number two is the back patio. We need to update it. We also want to do something to the two bathrooms in the master.

Amy: We'll probably turn them into one large bathroom. We also hope to get some landscaping done this year.

Do you, or does someone you know, have a cool, funky or exquisite living space that you'd like to see featured in At Home? Contact Entrée home and garden editor Tina Maples at (414) 223-5500 or email tmaples@journalsentinel.com.